Silent Cries
by Tsubasa Hane
Summary: The D-reaper may have been defeated, but the emotional scars still remain.


This was my first attempt at Angst in a long while.  It is my specialty, but I'd been dabbling in humor for so long that I was afraid I'd start to get rusty.  As it was, this took me several late nights longer than I expected for a number of reasons (writers' block, technical difficulties, schedule conflicts, etc), but I'd say that the effort was well worth it.

Also, the plot could possibly have been dragged out a little further than I chose to, but I really wanted to keep this as simple as possible.  

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**Dedications:** My 10th grade English Honors teacher, Mr. Colleary, for treating my work all year long as if I'm physically incapable of writing…I swear I will one day return to this town with a published best-selling novel and PROVE YOU WRONG!  
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Ominous clouds hung in the sky, overshadowing the last dimming lights of dusk. It appeared as if Mother Nature were planning to release a refreshing shower upon the earth's surface, but it never came…almost like the atmosphere itself were too gloomy for even the rain. Admitting temporary defeat, she settled for administrating a thin layer of mist to blanket the area instead. 

This permitted very little daylight (or rather, the light of dusk) to enter Juri's room, especially with her curtains partially closed to begin with. Not a single light was on inside, leaving it in near-total darkness.  Not that she noticed. 

In fact, she hadn't moved once in hours, remaining settled in the middle of her bedroom floor, curled in a near fetal position. The frail 10-year-old was completely oblivious to her dismal surroundings, lost in her thoughts. Her hair fell limply over her eyes as she stared at the smooth, shiny object in her hands, slowly turning it over every so often for closer observation. 

The blade end wasn't all that sharp to begin with, and its consistent use throughout the day had left it close to dull; she found herself able to easily slide it across her fingers—or even wrist—without more than a thin, pink line appearing on her skin from such contact. In a way, she preferred the blood-less pain, repeating the "scratching" motions with an almost inhumane tranquility…ceasing when her eyes, completely glazed over, fell upon her image in the reflective metal.

Her hair was now just barely plastered to her forehead and neck from the rising humidity in the room, and a thin layer of sweat glistened off her deathly pale skin. She hadn't been outside for nearly weeks, claiming to have not been feeling too well (which, in a way, was partially true). Her dress was beginning to loosely hang off of her body from weight lost due to not eating, and faint circles appeared under her eyes from lack of sleep. 

But she couldn't sleep, she just couldn't.  If she went to sleep, the nightmares would come back…

No sooner did the memories flash through her mind before her entire body started to shake, snapping her somewhat back to reality. Juri clutched the knife in her hand tightly, closing her eyes just as the sound of a door opening behind her echoed in her mind, followed by a quick gasp.

"Oh, my…Juri!" 

A voice she instantly recognized as her stepmother's rang out in alarm as the woman nearly ran to the young girl's side, immediately removing the lethal object from her hands. This was no easy task, as her own hands were shaking quite badly. 

With a quiver in her voice, the older woman gave Juri's wrists a brief scan, rubbing them when relieved to find nothing more than non-damaging scars. "Why won't you talk to us, Juri, instead of doing these things?" A pause, then desperately, "…say something please!" She begged for a response, finding herself choking down any further words when receiving none, not even a blink.

An unfamiliar voice spoke up. "Subject: Katou Juri…" Technically, it sounded like Juri—the voice came from Juri's mouth—but it just wasn't her. It was too…"Partner of Leomon, destroyed in battle because she wasn't a strong enough Tamer." …emotionless. "Destined to be alone, but causes pain upon others…" Her stepmother could just sit there in horror as she rattled off like the D-Reaper had done before. 

"Juri, that's not true! Stop it now!"

"…mother left her alone when she was very young…"

"Listen to me; I'm begging you!"

"…no one who cares…"

"STOP IT!" 

Nearly frantic, she began shaking the little girl, who now had tears freely falling down her cheeks despite her detached expression and monotonous voice. Mr. Katou was through the door in a flash at the sound of his wife's scream. His coarse attempts to calm her down just barely succeeded, and all was silent for a good while.

Outside, droplets of water finally made their way through the thick clouds, descending upon the earth in a steady pitter-patter of rain. It echoed off the Katou's roof, forming some sort of rhythmic pattern in the atmosphere. The chant which followed started off unnervingly quiet at first, almost impossible to hear, but slowly increased in volume until the deadly-soft tone could just barely be heard above the weather outside:

"I don't want to hurt them anymore…I don't want to hurt them anymore…I don't want to hurt them anymore…" 

The two adults just alternated glances between one another and their daughter, a feeling of helplessness and fear for the 10-year-old's sanity washing over them

*

It was almost like the old days, Takato thought, before their digital adventures had ever begun. He would be sitting in class, minding his own business (which, in reality, really meant 'daydreaming') when the teacher would call on him. When he didn't know the answer, he'd be asked to stay after class and a few of the girls would giggle femininely in the back, evoking a slight blush from the boy.

But there were two major differences now. First, it was no longer dreaming of Digimon that got him into such situations as these; rather, his mind often wandered to the second difference in surroundings. No Juri. Nor, in fact, had there been any sign of her since the D-reaper incident. It was like her family had just up and left without a second thought. 

As most of the other students rushed out the door at the sound of the lunch bell, Takato nervously gathered his materials and headed towards the front of the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted two of his Tamer friends—Jenrya and Ruki (who, after weeks of ganging up on her mother about it, had finally been allowed to transfer to public school so she could attend classes with her friends)—as they waited patiently by the doorway, having just come from their own classroom right down the hall. 

"You guys go on ahead. I'll be out in a minute, alright?" He called to them. From his desk, he saw Jenrya whisper something to the auburn-haired girl beside him, who gave a quick nod.

Jenrya motioned outside, to where one of the larger cherry blossom trees was just starting to bloom. "Ruki and I'll meet you outside in the usual spot. Don't take too long!" They were gone before the boy had even reached the teacher's desk at the front of the room, where Miss Asaji seemed to be in the middle of grading papers. 

"Takato, I wanted to talk to you about your recent class effort," she spoke up without even lifting her head, startling the boy, "Just when I thought you possibly drift any further from my class, you prove me wrong once again. Between you and Kazu, this must be some kind of world record."

The brunet hastily replied in his defense, "I'm sorry, Miss Asaji. I've just got a lot on my mind lately and—" before he was cut off.

"I know." The young woman tilted her head to look at the boy, sympathy shimmering in her hazel-brown eyes. "I'm worried about Juri as well." This caught him off guard, as he found himself blinking in surprise…

…which quickly turned to slight embarrassment. Trying to hide the oncoming rush of blood to his cheeks, he managed to stutter out, "H-how'd you know?"

Miss Asaji gave a knowing smile, standing up to walk around her desk. She bent down slightly to meet the boy eye-to-eye, one hand on his shoulders. "I may only be just the teacher, Takato, but that doesn't mean I'm completely oblivious to what goes on in my classroom. You've spent more time staring at her empty chair this past week than you have at the blackboard in an entire month." She stood up straight before continuing. "I know you and Juri are very close, Takato, and I know you're concerned…but you have you at least try to concentrate on your schoolwork."

"Yeah," he replied weakly, when a brief thought came to him. "I don't suppose you've…you know…"

She shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Takato. I haven't heard from the Katou's in weeks."

"Oh…" Despite himself, Takato managed to put on a half-hearted smile. "Well, thanks Miss Asaji. And I promise I'll try harder, too."

She knew the smile was forced, and returned one just the same. "I'm sure you will." But deep down, her heart went out to the boy.

Fooling teachers seemed easy enough, Takato thought as he made his way outside, but trying to convince your friends that nothing's wrong would be a whole 'nother matter all together. Even Ruki, the once apathetic Ice Queen, had noticed a change in his disposition. It was difficult to concentrate on anything these days, not just schoolwork. Every smile seemed forced, every laugh was only half-hearted at most, every moment of high-spirits actually hurt. 

The talk with Miss Asaji hadn't helped, but just reminded him how much he missed that crazy little girl with the hand puppet. It looked like he would have to try putting on another 'show' for his friends so as not to worry them further. Bracing himself, Takato took a step outside the school in the direction of where he knew they would be sitting.

It turned out the performance wasn't even necessary. Takato stopped a good twenty feet before reaching them, just as he saw the two sitting happily together at the base of the tree trunk.

From what he could tell, they must have been doing homework together, something not uncommon these days. Jenrya and Ruki were side-by-side, shoulders touching from the closeness between them; Ruki even occasionally rested her knees against his. Neither seemed to notice the dampness of the ground still left from the previous night's rainstorm, so focused on their 'studies.' For a brief moment, they would stare ahead at their papers with straight, business-like faces, intent on figuring out the problem. That would end when one of them peeked at the other's paper (usually Ruki), so intent on proving herself right she would even start scribbling on his paper. 

The instant she reached over, he pulled back in a teasingly defensive manner, only provoking her further. This would develop into a small struggle over the notebook in question (and occasionally the pen, too) filled with laughter and lacking much significance, ending when Jenrya finally put his arm around her as a sign of friendly defeat, allowing her to change whatever he had written to begin with. Almost as if to rub it in, Ruki would gloat in a matter of laying her head on his shoulder as she explained step-by-step just how she was right. 

Not that he seemed to mind all that much.

Around that moment was when Takato forced himself to turn away, tears threatening to spill. He knew and was well aware of how close his two friends had become recently, but the sight of them still affected something deep down inside. Something his ten-year-old mind wasn't quite able to comprehend quite yet. Wiping away the moisture from his eyes, he finally decided to sit somewhere else that period, leaving the couple underneath the tree to their little moment of pleasure.

_I just wish there was something I could do,_ his mind cried out for the umpteenth time that day. _Anything at all to bring her back, like it used to be. I just feel so…helpless…_

*

It happened again that night, with the raindrops pounding the earth harder than before. There had been a series of showers off and on for the past two weeks straight, almost as if to reflect the young girl's present mood. Juri sat in the middle of her room, except this time she had her hand puppet with her.

"Ruff! Ruff!" She spoke through the puppet, "It's all Juri's fault. She's the one who hurt everybody. She's the one who fed the D-reaper and gave it all that power to hurt her friends with. It's all her fault. Ruff!" _She's the one who hurt Takato._

And then, for a moment, all was silent once more. In one corner of the dim room, a tiny leak in the roof could easily be heard echoing through the room with a drip, drip sound, forming a collective puddle at the base of the bedpost. 

"And yet, she's still here. Why is that?" This conversation continued on for several seconds before a small trace of sanity left in the girl made her toss the puppet to the ground harshly, but the rush of emotions were gone almost as quickly as they had surfaced. She stared at the limp object for a full minute before standing up and walking over to her bed.

Her expression even more blank than before, she half-consciously reached for the pillow at the head of the bed, not even noticing when a trickle of cold dropped on her outstretched arm. With the exact same speed, she carefully removed the cloth case. Then, she began tearing the material into thin strips. It wasn't easy, given the fabric's durability; on more than one occasion, she had to start a rip by tearing at it with her teeth. 

Once this was done, her next plan of action was to tie each of the ends together, being sure to make each and every knot as tight as humanly possible. Unlike before, tears now streamed down the light brunette's cheeks. 

After a good half an hour's work, she held up the finishing result: a makeshift rope. 

"It's time to go now," she whispered, just like she had inside the D-reaper, as one end was folded over to form a noose.

A knock came at the door, and Juri's stepmother peeked in to check on her. "Juri, are you aslee—Juri!" She stopped mid-sentence at the sight of the rope nearly around the girl's neck. "Oh, not again!" 

As she did every night something like this happened, the woman hurriedly ran into the room to remove the fatal object from her stepdaughter's grasp once more. Only this time was different. This time, she put up a fight.

The tantrum started before Mrs. Katou even reached her side of the room. Clutching the rope tight, Juri started whimpering out loud, thrashing about frantically in an attempt to keep the rope in her possession. It grew so tight around her neck for a moment there was no doubt bruises would result. At any time her stepmother even touched her, Juri would let out a almost ear-piercing cry. 

Finally, Mrs. Katou managed to get one hand on the rope, doing everything in her power to, if not completely remove it, at least keep it from depriving the younger girl of any more oxygen. The struggle between them lasted for what seemed like endless moments to the older of the two before Mr. Katou came barging into the room, having heard all the shouting.

He didn't know what came over him just then. Years of trying to raise a daughter like Juri without help had worn away his parental patience, and her most recent behavior nearly pushed him over the deep end. Something deep down just…snapped. Eyes focused straight ahead, the husky man nearly stomped forward and directly in between the two struggling with one another and raised his right arm, aimed at the screaming, little girl. 

Everything happened in the span of seconds, and Juri's mother barely had time to scream at her husband to stop before he harshly swung. The recoil caused Juri to collapse to the ground in a sudden shock of silence. 

Time stood nearly still as Juri just lay there, apparently unconscious. Mr. Katou refrained from movement for a good while, ignoring the shouts and cries coming from his wife. He just stared down at his daughter, waiting for her to get up. She finally did less than a minute later, a large red mark clearly visible on her cheek. 

At the first sign of moment, her father was at her side. His face was curled in a deep frown as he stared down at the girl. "What is wrong with you, young lady? What do you think you're doing, making things like this?" He held up the make-shift rope, grabbing her arm with his free hand. "Do you have any idea what you've put your family through these past few weeks. Do you?" 

A whimper from the door caught everyone's attention for a brief moment. They turned to find Juri's younger brother crouching behind the door in fear of his father. Mrs. Katou immediately ran over to scoop up the little boy in her arms. 

"Shh…it's okay, honey. Daddy just got a little upset for a bit there. No reason to feel afraid." She tried to calm him down, but the words were just as much to comfort her as her son.  The momentary distraction gave Juri the opportunity to grab for the rope once more. Another struggle occurred, but this time with her father. 

"No! It has to be done!" She screamed, her eyes on the strip of cloths dangling in mid-air. Mrs. Katou covered her son's eyes in an attempt to shield him, but he could still hear everything. "I have to! I don't want to hurt him anymore! I have to!" 

Mr. Katou was in too much of a blind rage to hear correctly, but the subtle change in cries didn't go unnoticed to his wife. She quickly ushered her son back down the stairs where it was safe, then ran over to her husband. 

"Wait! Didn't you hear what she just said?" She spoke above the subsiding shouts of Juri, succeeding in getting her husband's curiosity, "She said him, that she doesn't want to hurt him anymore." Without waiting for a reply, the woman turned to her stepdaughter, gently taking her by the shoulders. "Who, Juri? Who is it you don't want to hurt anymore?"

She didn't give an answer. All the struggling had taken its toll on Juri, though she continued to do so against her stepmother's touch, now even worse than before. It took both parents to get her under control. "Takato!" she called out to the air, her voice strained and weak, "Takato…help me…" Mrs. Katou was up in a flash for the door.

"Where are you going?" her husband called out. 

She stopped at the door to answer him. "I'm calling that boy, Takato. He might be the only one who could help Juri right now."

"What? Have you gone mad, woman? He's one of…one of… them! I forbid it!" But it was too late; she was already halfway down the stairs, heading straight for the phone.

*

The rain was still coming down hard as Takato ran through the vacant streets, shielded by little more than a light jacket. It was dark, the time being over an hour after sunset, but he knew exactly where he was going. Puddles formed on the rain-soaked sidewalks, and more than once the young boy almost slipped and fell. 

As it was, he had had a long day, and was exhausted to begin with. Only sheer determination kept him going at this point; he could still hear the words of Mrs. Katou calling him back at the house:

_"Takato, I know this is going to sound a bit strange for you to do this time of night, but we need you to come down to the bar immediately."_

_"Why…what is it? Is it Juri? What's wrong?"_

_"…she needs you."_

Those three words were all it took to get his full attention. And so it was, to the bewildered frustration of his parents, Takato Matsuda raced out of his family's bakery into the pouring rain. And so it was, five minutes later, a soaking wet Takato Matsuda entered the Katou's bar, breathing heavily from the exertion.

Juri's father and stepmother were quietly sitting behind the counter, not saying a word to one another, when he entered. His eyes immediately met with Mr. Katou's first. Chills from the glare he was sending the boy shivered up and down his spine_. It's almost as if he's blaming me for all this, _he thought, instinctively taking a step backwards in slight fear of the man. 

The next eyes he laid upon were that of Juri's stepmother, the one who had called him for help. She seemed much more demure than her husband at the moment, silently thanking him for being there with her gaze. 

Drops of water trickling from his damp bangs down his face, he politely bowed in respect for the two elders. "Um…hello, Mr. Katou…Mrs. Katou." When no one answered, he cautiously headed towards the stairs to the Katou's living quarters, located just behind the couple. He had just removed his shoes out of cultural habit when a voice rang out, deep but quivering.

"Takato…" 

At the sound of his name, the young brunette turned to face them, but Mr. Katou refused to do the same, keeping his back to the boy the entire time.

"Please…save my little girl, Takato. That's all I want, just to see her happy again." His wife placed a comforting arm around his shoulders, motioning to the boy with a slight nod.

He returned it with a hopeful smile. "Then that's one thing we have in common." 

The door gave a slight creek as Takato slowly opened it just enough to peek his head inside. It took some time for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. After a moment, his sight fell upon Juri, curled up into a ball and rocking herself gently in the far corner of the room. He heard no more than two sounds in the room: the sound of a dripping leak somewhere near the bedpost, and the whispers of the ten-year-old girl as she stared into oblivion.

At first, he wasn't sure Juri had even been aware of his presence. She seemed so out of it, but when he opened the door all the way and stepped in, shutting it quietly behind him, her head snapped to attention. Their eyes met and for an instant, a glint of hope shone through her honey-brown eyes. 

"Takato…" she called out to him in a hoarse whisper, abruptly standing up as if to greet him. But no sooner had she taken a few steps towards him, something forced her to stop. She just stood there, staring at the boy, a look of sudden confusion on her face. She hadn't smiled to begin with, but all traces of happiness she had shown just seconds before seemed to vanish. 

Takato tried moving towards her, but every time he did, she would recoil and take a step backwards. "Juri, it's me." He called out to her, dismayed by her actions. It was like she was afraid of him all of a sudden.

"Stay back…"

He ceased in his tracks. "Juri…?"

"Stay away from me." Her back was nearly against the wall but still she persisted in her retreat. "I don't want to hurt you…"

Is she threatening me? "Hurt me? What are you talking about? You would never hurt anyone, Juri." He was now halfway across the room, slowly inching towards the panic-stricken girl. 

"You're wrong. I hurt everyone who comes near me. I'm a horrible person, Takato; you know that. That's why the D-reaper was able to feed off of me so easily."

"Juri, that's not true!"

"Yes it is." Her voice kept it's monotonous character, but was beginning to quiver, "That's why it would be better for everyone if I were gone. Nobody would get hurt anymore…I wouldn't hurt anyone anymore…"

"What do you think you're doing to me right now?!" Something inside the boy finally broke and, eyes shut tight, fists clenched, he shouted at her before vaguely regaining his composure. 

His eyes opened, now glazed over from tears he refused to shed, and he met them with those of a now speechless Juri. "Juri, there are people out there who care too much about you to want to see you this way. Your parents …Ruki …the other Tamers…" He paused for a moment. "…me…"

She continued to stare straight ahead as the words began to sink in. Meanwhile, Takato continued on, inching towards her with every word. "You're hurting us worse by acting like this than you ever possibly could have inside the D-reaper. Please, Juri…just…come back to us." He had nothing left to say, and any further attempts were caught in his throat.

The silence was nearly deafening in the room those next precious moments; not even the drip, drip of the leak seemed to make a sound. The two stood perfectly still, facing off one another. For a moment, Juri refused to even look at the boy, diverting her attention more to the floor as thoughts ran a mile a minute inside her head. The D-reaper's influence on her feelings were starting to vanish as she considered Takato's words…and especially his sudden outburst. 

All at once, it was as if everything clicked, yet fell apart at the same time. She shot her head up at once to meet her eyes with his:

"…Takato!" Her response was to nearly dive at the boy, collapsing into his arms with a weak cry. Burying her head deep into his chest, ignoring the fact that his clothes were still dripping wet, she held to him tightly as she bursts into tears from the emotional strain. 

Overcoming the initial shock, Takato protectively wrapped his arms around the frail girl, laying his chin on top of her head. He stroked her hair gently, whispering to her that it was going to be okay, relief sweeping through his veins. 

They remained in that position for a good while, as the rain continuously fell outside, making soothing pitter-patter-pitter-patter sounds against the roof.

*

"…and then I saw the principal sneak into the broom closet after her, just as—"

"Kenta, this is all very interesting—and I'll definitely want details later—but can we please get back to me kicking your can now?"

"Huh? Oh, right…sure, Kazu."

It was early Sunday morning, no later than 10 a.m., and the park was relatively deserted. The two boys were out for an early morning picnic-breakfast, which quickly developed into a round of Digimon Card battles; even after all their adventures with real Digimon in the real Digital World, neither had lost interest in the game itself. The grass, sidewalks, and benches were all thoroughly drenched from the past night's storms, so Kenta had brought along a large quilt and placed it down over one of the more open-field areas, right next to the most popular jogging path. It made for a great playing field.

Kazu was enjoying the game a bit more than his companion at the moment, however. Mainly because he was winning. Big time. 

"Ha! Let's see you beat this one!" he exclaimed proudly, placing down the most powerful card in his deck.

One look at the card and poor Kenta gave out a frustrated groan, shuffling haughtily through his hand in a feeble attempt to find some type of defense. When he couldn't find any, he decided to play the strongest card in his deck, even if it was no match for—

"Wha'cha doowing?" 

Before he knew it, little Suzie was at his side and peeking over his shoulder. Of course, Kenta responded with the first thing that came to mind: "AAHHH!" The 4-year-old gave a giggle as she watched him topple over backwards in surprise. "What's she doing here?"

Kazu gave a shrug, groaning at his friend's reaction. He turned to the giggling little girl. "We're in the middle of a very important card game, if you don't mind. Not that we expect a four-year-old to understand it, of course, but still. Now, if you will, get lost!"

Obviously, Suzie was ignoring Kazu to the best of her ability, curiously looking over the cards that Kenta was holding. Not sure what she was doing, he stood very still, allowing her to do so. "Did youw know youw can pway this…this…awnd this cawd at the sawme time?" she asked him, pointing to each card in turn, "That shouwd beat the cawd he pwaced down aweady," she motioned towards Kazu's in-play card.

Kenta stared from his deck, to Suzie, back to his deck, back to Suzie, and back to his deck one more time before it finally clicked in. "Hey, she's right! Thanks, kid." Grabbing all three cards at once, he enthusiastically threw them onto the playing field with one throw, standing up in triumph. "Take that, Kazu! I win!" Caught up in the excitement, Suzie glomped the older boy, squeezing him into a tight hug that nearly knocked him over.

"WHAT?!" Kazu stared at the cards wide-eyed for a moment, glancing between them and Suzie, much as Kenta had done seconds before. "How…did she…but I was…and then…argh!" He threw the cards over his shoulder as a sign of humiliated defeat, groaning, "Beaten by a four-year-old's strategy…am I ever glad Ruki's not here to see this!"

"Who do you think taught her?" With a startled yelp, Kazu turned to find non other than Ruki herself, Jenrya by her side. 

"Whatever happened to a friendly 'hello,' huh? Why does everybody insist on sneaking up on us?"

Neither paid any attention to his frantic questioning, turning to a now blue-faced Kenta; Suzie had yet to let go of him. Doing the best he could to keep a straight face, Jenrya called out to his little sister, "Hey, Suzie…what do you say giving poor Kenta there a break, before he passes out, okay?"

"O'tay!" She let go in an instant, assuming an innocently-looking smile on her face, and the boy fell to the floor from lack of air. As the two newest of the group gave a chuckle, the little girl ran over to Ruki, who picked her up. 

"Hey…hold on, Ruki," Kazu started curiously, now that he got a good opportunity to observe the two more closely, "…isn't that _Jenrya's_ jacket you have on?

The girl, Suzie still in her arms, glanced down at what she was wearing. Sure enough, over her usual heart shirt was a rather familiar olive-green jacket. It was slightly too big, given the height difference between her and the navy-haired boy, but so warm and comfortable in the cool, brisk air she had practically forgotten he'd given it to her to wear. 

"Yeah, he let me borrow it this morning when I left mine at home. Why?" She raised an eyebrow at him at his rather insistent question.

"Oh…no reason…" At this point, he was eyeing Jenrya with a smirk. Luckily for the two of them, Suzie broke the tension.

"Hey, wook! Thewe's Angwy Boy! Awnd Juwi's with him!" 

Grabbing everyone's attention, including that of Kenta (who had finally just recovered from the Suzie-death-grip), everybody followed to where Suzie pointed and saw—sure enough—Takato heading towards them with one arm around a rather pale-looking Juri, who had her head rested against his shoulder from exhaustion. It was obvious he didn't see them, as his eyes were focused on keeping the girl up and steady, gently talking to her in a voice so low no one else could hear.

Jenrya was the first to get their attention. "Hey, Takato! Over here!" He looked up to find his friends, giving them a friendly wave before he began guiding Juri over to the group.

*

"…so you mean her family was here the whole time, but just stayed locked up in their home?" Jenrya questioned in surprise as Takato told him the whole story (or most of it, anyways). The two boys pulled one another off to the side in order to talk, while the others carefully gathered around Juri to welcome her back.

The brunette gave a brief glance back at Juri, who was being given a friendly hug by (surprisingly enough) Ruki. "She basically holed up in her room until I convinced her to come out. This whole thing with the D-reaper really tore her apart."

Jenrya nodded in understanding, then broke into a small grin, "At least we know she's in the right hands now, huh?" This brought Takato's attention back to the boy, a slight tint of pink evident on his cheeks.

"What'd you mean?" he questioned, somehow already knowing the answer. Jenrya just shook his head in response, not saying anything but diverting his own gaze to where Takato's was seconds before. This gave Takato an idea. "Speaking of 'in good hands'…that isn't, by any chance, your jacket Ruki's wearing, is it?"

It was the taller of the two's turn to blush. "Yeah…"

"I think it looks good on her, don't you think?" 

Jenrya finally drew his attention back to his companion, smiling. "Just what are you getting at, Matsuda?"

Far-too innocently. "Oh…nothing. Nothing at all." Then his tone changed, "I just can't believe that's the same Ruki we met when everything started. She's completely done a one-eighty in personality. I don't know what you did to her since we all met, but obviously it worked"

"I know…" Jenrya started heading back to the group, motioning for Takato to follow. "She and Juri are practically best friends now."

Takato couldn't help but grin as he watched Suzie hop up onto Juri's lap with a smile, Ruki sitting right next to them with one of her own. "After all she's been through…friends are probably the best thing we can give her right now."

"Then what are you supposed to do?"

A pause. A blush. Then, "…hey!"


End file.
